Breaking Cloud
by Kalta79
Summary: Cloud wants to make Reno pay for Sephiroth's hold over him and Aerith's death. #Sephiroth/Cloud Strife #Tifa/Reno# Elena/Reno #Reno/Cloud Strife #Drunk Sex #Dominance #Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence #Mind Control #(Underage)Rape/Non-con #Mental Health Issues
1. Chapter 1

"I've got nothing left to lose. I'm dying, you stupid ass!" Cloud said as his hand started trembling…his anger increased as well as his fear. He couldn't have a Geostigma fit now! Reno needed pay for his failure…reaching into the stunned man's pocket, he was somewhat disgusted to find the tube of lubrication still there, just like it had been that horrible night that began it all…

 _The first night in Nibelheim_

"Well, we wanna get started to the reactor first thing in the morning, so I'm calling it a night." Zack said, standing up from their private booth at the local bar. "Anyone coming with me?"

"Later." Sephiroth replied, wanting to finish his brandy first. He had been pleasantly surprised at the quality of the drinks in this backwater hole.

"I'm staying too." Cloud decided, wanting to spend more time basking in his idol's presence in a non-professional capacity.

Sephiroth frowned, not entirely happy about that. The adoration evident whenever the boy looked at him was both flattering and disturbing. But as the night wore on, he was increasingly amused by him. Cloud would do anything Sephiroth asked of him, but he was also getting drunk, as no one cared if he was of age or not, since he was part of SOLDIER. Something about Cloud's subservience pleased him to no end. A commotion across the room got his attention.

"You drunken pervert!" A woman slapped Reno and stormed out, as the redhead just shrugged and took another sip of his beer.

Sephiroth shouldn't have been surprised, if the mission was important enough to send him, of course the Turks would be doing surveillance. And he agreed with the woman's assessment, Reno was a pervert, always looking for the finest female flesh he could sample and discard. As Sephiroth looked at Cloud and then again at Reno, an idea to teach the horny man a lesson and see how well Cloud would obey him popped into his head. Part of him felt it would be wrong, but the longer the thought festered in his head, the more he wanted to test them both above all else.

"Stand here in front of the table and pull your pants down, then rest your upper body on the table." Sephiroth suddenly commanded Cloud.

"Sir?" Cloud asked, not because he was refusing, but because he was too drunk already to entirely comprehend the order.

"Come here." Sephiroth said, and Cloud managed to get up but was unsteady on his feet and ended up falling in Sephiroth's lap. The First Class SOLDIER sighed and decided to take his pants off himself, surprised at how he enjoyed touching Cloud's bare skin. He positioned him on the table how he wanted him, then Sephiroth took his coat off and covered Cloud's upper body on the table. "Hey Reno, I got a live one for ya!" he called out to the Turk.

Reno grabbed his beer bottle and went over to see what Sephiroth had…maybe there was a chick worth fucking in this hellhole after all. Staring at the bare ass and legs, Reno drunkenly turned to Sephiroth. "A bit too muscular, isn't she? And what about the rest of her? I've got my lube with me," Reno patted his pocket. "But why not enjoy all of a woman. Where's the fun in that?"

"I'll show you the fun in that." Sephiroth closed the curtain in their private booth, then took the lube out of Reno's pocket and undid his own pants, realizing he didn't want the perverted Turk being first to try Cloud. It was him that Cloud worshipped after all, not Reno. He would reward him for that.

"Sir?" Cloud repeated from underneath the coat. He understood some of what was being said, and he started getting nervous.

"You want to please me, don't you?" Sephiroth demanded of him.

"Oh, yes sir!" Cloud exclaimed.

"See how biddable she is?" Sephiroth told Reno, who nodded.

"That's useful, but how good do they feel?" Reno wanted to know.

"I'll show you now." Sephiroth positioned himself in front of Cloud as he lubed up. He was worried that his body would not cooperate, but as soon as he put his hands on Cloud's cheeks to spread them apart, he felt himself hardening, and he quickly forced himself into Cloud, who cried out instantly at the violation, and started to struggle under the coat. Sephiroth slammed his hands down onto Cloud's. "You're going to tell me how much you like this, aren't you?" Sephiroth ordered him.

"Yes, sir." Cloud's voice came out squeaking from the pain and horror of his hero ravishing him.

"Do it then!" Sephiroth snapped.

"This is the best I've ever felt." Cloud whispered.

"Say it louder!" Sephiroth insisted.

"This is the best I've ever felt!" Cloud blurted out.

"For me too." Sephiroth told him, putting his hands under the coat and running his hands over Cloud's chest and back. "No one has ever done this to you, have they?"

"No, sir." Cloud quietly replied.

"That's because you're mine, aren't you? Keep saying how much you like it!" Sephiroth smiled. He was amazed at how good it felt to fuck Cloud, and forgot about Reno, forgot about everything but pleasing himself by subjugating Cloud. His trembling body made it even better, it already felt like an exquisite caress every time he thrust into the wonderful tightness of Cloud, but the quivering flesh was silken pleasure encasing his member.

Cloud was crying as he repeated over and over again how much he liked Sephiroth inside him, grateful he couldn't see any of what was happening to him. Eventually he made himself believe that he liked it, feeling incredible relief as he gave in and let Sephiroth dominate him, mind and body. He wasn't being raped, he was enjoying having his idol's undivided attention…Cloud felt himself smiling as Sephiroth told him how special he was.


	2. Chapter 2

"Dammit, get a room already!" Reno exclaimed. Watching other people having sex wasn't his thing, even though it had surprised him to have his personal assessment of Sephiroth as incapable of emotion destroyed. The man was so lost in fucking his conquest that Reno thought maybe this was a clone, not the real deal.

Sephiroth frowned. The Turk's sour comment destroyed the wonderful afterglow he and Cloud were enjoying again. When he had felt Cloud's body start responding to his domination with genuine ecstasy, it added another dimension to the pleasure Cloud gave him, and he couldn't bring himself to stop. "Is there a problem?" he asked Reno in a tone that made him flinch.

"You were only going to test her out for me, but that was ages ago! I'm never going to get my turn, am I?" Reno demanded to know. "Even the beer tastes bad now!"

Sephiroth paused. He had promised the man, and nothing was more repellant to him than breaking his word, except the thought of someone else inside Cloud. He had just made him his, after all. "Stand in front of her."

"Does this mean I get to see what she looks like finally?" Reno asked as he stood in front of Cloud's covered head.

"No!" Sephiroth sneered. "No one sees her but me!" He was about to blindfold the Turk, but Reno refused.

"No way!" Reno wouldn't let someone like Sephiroth blindfold him for anything, that was against all the ingrained survival skills he had learned growing up and during his career with the Turks. "Forget it…she's probably too ugly to fuck anyway, that's why you're hiding her, isn't it?" Reno stormed out of the private booth with his beer. Sephiroth's eyes glinted dangerously as Reno's continued rant as he headed into the bathroom reached his hyper-sensitive hearing. "Fucking asshole…he probably hired some two-bit whore to tease me!"

"Don't pay him any mind." Sephiroth told Cloud as he took his coat off him so he could see. His need to avenge the insults Reno made towards Cloud was tempered by the fact that Reno hadn't touched him after all. "But he was right, we should go back to my hotel room. Stand up." Sephiroth redressed him and threw money down on the table for their bill, then put his coat around Cloud and picked him up. The coat was big enough to hide Cloud's smaller body from view again as he carried him outside. "Rest yourself a little, you'll need to regain some energy." They passed a dark-haired young woman entering the bar as they left, and Sephiroth recognized her as their hired guide to the reactor.

Tifa was furious…she'd heard over and over again that Cloud was back in town, but he never bothered to find her and say hello. He'd been gone a long time, and she was eager to find out how his career with SOLDIER was going. "Where is he?" Tifa demanded to the entire bar.

"Where's who?" Reno wondered as he came out of the bathroom and headed towards the door to go to the inn. "Isn't it past your bedtime?"

Tifa's anger now had a new target and she followed Reno outside. "What do you mean by that? I'm not a child!" She was also fed up with everyone always treating her like one.

Reno stood up to his full height and looked down at her, examining her figure with a critical eye. "You've got the boobs going for you already, but give it a few more years, then call me." Reno held out one of his cards that he gave to his informants to get in touch with him. Tifa shrieked in outrage and slapped him before storming off. "Well, that answers that question. Only attractive ass in this place is a child." Reno muttered as he tossed the card onto the ground before sulkily heading to his room at the inn.

Sephiroth witnessed the exchange as he stood in front of his window and closed the curtain. Cloud was laying obediently on the bed naked where Sephiroth had placed him. "You really wouldn't have let that man touch me, would you have, sir?" Cloud asked plaintively as Sephiroth undressed. That part of him that still knew he was being abused did not want to endure being violated by anyone else.

"Don't call me sir when we're alone like this. I'm your lover, understand?" Sephiroth told him as he joined Cloud in bed, cupping his face in his hands and kissing him.

"Yes, lover." Cloud liked saying that. It made him feel so important to the man he had worshipped for so long.

"Now I'm going to teach you another way to please me." Sephiroth forced Cloud's head to between his legs. "Take me in your mouth."

Something in Cloud screamed at him to try and flee, but he automatically opened his mouth and obeyed instead. He had already convinced himself that he enjoyed whatever Sephiroth did to him, now he worked on convincing himself that this would help him become a First Class SOLDIER. After all, Sephiroth was the best of the best, anything he taught Cloud how to do must be part of his training, right?

"Well, you need to practice that a lot more." Sephiroth told Cloud when his clumsy first attempt was finished. He cleaned up Cloud's face, since he couldn't stand sloppiness.

"I'm sorry, lover." Cloud kept his head down, upset with his failure.

Sephiroth put his finger under Cloud's chin and forced his head up. "You're just new at this, you'll learn. I'll make you please me, don't worry."

Cloud's spirits lifted as Sephiroth kissed and fondled him all over until they both hardened. "Please take me again, lover." he pleaded.

"I like it when you beg." Sephiroth smiled as he easily slid back into Cloud, who was still wet from their earlier activities. "I like all of you."

Cloud clenched the bed sheet with both hands as Sephiroth thrust into him again and again. Guttural cries erupted from his throat as he felt his lover's hands caressing his penis, until he felt himself ready to burst. Nothing had ever felt so good! Sephiroth's long silver hair lightly covered them as if they were in their own world. He timed it just right so that Cloud was overloaded with a double orgasm and he himself exploded amongst the stars.

"Promise me that I'm the only one you'll ever be with." Sephiroth demanded when he noticed Cloud about to pass out from the momentous night.

"I could never want anyone but you." Cloud murmured fervently before closing his eyes.

Sephiroth watched his lover's breathing slow, feeling so peaceful. He had experienced sex before, since there were always willing women eager to have bragging rights by making it with a First Class SOLDIER of his reputation, but he never understood passion until this night. Having something that was solely his awakened so many new feelings in him. He never knew his family or ever had real friends, just coworkers he was familiar with. But Cloud…he had stolen his innocence and independence in no time at all, and he would never let him go! A contented sigh escaped Sephiroth's lips as he fell asleep himself.


	3. Chapter 3

Cloud woke up an hour before dawn, feeling very disoriented. He also felt sick and sore, and wanted to go to the bathroom, but an arm was holding him tight, and Cloud turned over to see who it was. He froze in shock when he was confronted with a naked sleeping Sephiroth. Wisps of the drunken night before flew through his head and waves of nausea hit him, so Cloud threw off Sephiroth's arm and ran to the bathroom. He felt trapped when Sephiroth entered the bathroom moments later, since he couldn't go anywhere til he finished vomiting. It wasn't just his hangover that made him sick, it was his rejection of what he remembered of the night before. As Sephiroth gently held him over the toilet, Cloud trembled with fear, anger and something else he didn't want to identify.

"You shouldn't drink so much next time." Sephiroth told him once Cloud had finished and sat there in front of the toilet just panting. "Let's get you cleaned up now." He gently lifted Cloud up into a standing position and took firm hold of his hand, leading him to the sink where he made him use the mouthwash to get the sickly sweet taste out of his mouth, then Sephiroth turned the shower on, waiting for the water to get to his preferred temperature before pulling Cloud into the stall.

"No, please, let me go back in my room!" Cloud attempted in vain to free himself from the much stronger man.

"I _really_ do like it when you beg." Sephiroth forced Cloud against the tile wall as the hot water sluiced down their bodies. "Beg for me some more." He kissed him as his hands freely roamed his firm young body.

"Please let me go!" Cloud pleaded, hoping Sephiroth would let him go if he obeyed. He was scared, but he didn't know if it was because of Sephiroth's advances or his own body's growing excitement over them.

"No! Beg for this!" Sephiroth snapped and shoved Cloud forcefully to his knees and held his head straight so he could see how ready Sephiroth was for him.

Cloud stared at his idol's swollen member, shuddering at the thought, but he didn't know what else to do but what he was told. "I…I want that inside me…please take me!" he lied, grateful that the shower hid his tears. What would Tifa think?

"As you wish. Get up and face the wall." Sephiroth smiled as he was presented with Cloud's beautiful backside. He put his hands on his hips and pushed himself forward, groaning as his lover's body eagerly welcomed him.

Cloud wanted to scream out in protest, but his body betrayed him as it relished Sephiroth fucking the resistance out of him. He went so slowly at first, almost hesitantly, and it was exquisite torment for the young man. If it felt this good to be with Sephiroth, it couldn't possibly be wrong, Cloud told himself. "Please don't stop!" he was soon freely begging.

"You are the best I've ever had." Sephiroth kissed his neck and wrapped his arms around his lover as he continued dominating his body. "I could fuck you straight for a year and never be disappointed."

"You like me that much?" Cloud asked hopefully.

"Without a doubt. But now…" Sephiroth and Cloud's voices mingled together as their mutual cries of fulfillment echoed throughout the room. "Nothing like starting out a new mission clean and refreshed, is there?" he asked Cloud as the afterglow faded.

Cloud nodded. He felt so wonderful…the great Sephiroth was fond of him! He had never expected that when he left home to join SOLDIER. "Will you leave me after this mission?" he asked in almost a meek voice, afraid of what the answer might be.

"You're **my** lover, aren't you?" Sephiroth reminded him. "I won't ever leave you. Now let's get dressed and grab some breakfast before we start out, shall we?"


	4. Chapter 4

Cloud felt so confused as they headed up the mountain to the reactor with Tifa leading them. Now that he was no longer alone with Sephiroth, he didn't quite know what to think, especially since Sephiroth was in his coldly distant professional mode while in public. Cloud didn't like it, he was unable to admit his idol had raped him, and seeing Sephiroth like this made Cloud extremely uncomfortable. Or was he mad at Cloud for not taking his eyes off their guide? Tifa was prettier than he remembered, and he wondered if he should let her know who he is. Cloud sighed…he wasn't sure himself who he was now. He was eager for the mission to be over so he could be alone with Sephiroth again and he could explain things to Cloud.

Sephiroth had indeed noticed how Cloud seemed to be staring at their guide, and it did make him mad, but not at his lover, he couldn't be mad at Cloud. He was mad at Tifa…she had interested Reno but rejected him, was she just another one of those slutty teases that Reno loved so much? She obviously had no problem exposing herself. She would never have Cloud, he'd see to that. His possessiveness over Cloud surprised him with its intensity. Emotions were a detriment to his line of work, and he had no life outside Shin-Ra Corporation. But Cloud…he belonged to Sephiroth alone. He didn't mind Cloud's friendship with Zack, that wasn't a threat to him. After this mission was over, he would take his first vacation, he had plenty of days off that he never used. Cloud would come with him, and he would really have his lover all to himself then.

* * *

Cloud's confusion only worsened after the trip to the reactor. Zack wouldn't tell him what happened, or where Sephiroth was. He did suggest that Cloud talk to Tifa, but Cloud couldn't bring himself to do that, or even tell Zack why. Not only was he just a lowly infantryman, but there was Sephiroth in his life now, but he didn't know to what end. Had Sephiroth lied to him when he said he'd never leave Cloud? He shuddered at the very thought…he needed to believe that Sephiroth was incapable of being anything but a hero. Cloud smiled at how special it made him feel that someone like Sephiroth wanted to keep Cloud to himself.

* * *

Sephiroth refused to attack the inn when he unleashed his fury upon the town, in case Cloud was there. He had other plans for him, after all. He would rescue his mother, and take her and Cloud somewhere safe. Then he would destroy anything that stood in his way…he would rule this planet with both of them at his side.

* * *

Cloud saw Zack head towards the mountain reactor, and he followed slowly at first, in shock at hearing people say Sephiroth had gone mad. When he heard someone mention that Tifa had gone there to confront Sephiroth, something broke inside of him, and he ran the rest of the way. The sight of Tifa and Zack's injured bodies engulfed him with a wrath fueled by betrayal.

"How dare you?!" Sephiroth was outraged that it was his chosen lover who dared attack him and his mother…his favoritism had its limits, after all. When Cloud insisted on fighting, Sephiroth skewered him in kind to try and reason with him. "Don't test me!" he gave his lover one final warning. His eyes widened when Cloud somehow found the strength to gain control of the sword away from him. "No…impossible!" Those were what everyone assumed to be Sephiroth's final words.

Cloud felt dead inside as he stumbled out of the Jenova chamber, falling down the stairs and collapsing next to Zack.

* * *

"Are you serious? We have to go back? That place is a hellhole!" Reno's voice crackled with disgust over the helicopter's radio as he was flying himself and Rude back to headquarters.

"It is now. You're on cleanup duty. Head to the reactor first." Tseng's voice responded.

Reno got a pouty expression on his face as he turned his bird around and headed back to Nibelheim. "What the…" Shock at the wreckage he witnessed as they overflew the charred ground now covered his face. He and Rude cautiously entered the reactor on full alert, Rude hurrying to check the vitals of the three survivors they found there while Reno stood guard with his weapon on its highest voltage setting. Reno recognized them all, but Zack was the only one he hoped was still alive. They were getting low on First Class SOLDIERs, with no likely candidates in the available pool. That infantryman was easily replaceable, and the girl…well breasts didn't have to be natural to interest him these days, but it would still be a pity that she wouldn't grow up.

"They shouldn't still be alive." Rude commented as he radioed for help. "HQ says we stay here til Hojo arrives. Apparently he wants new test subjects." he told his partner.

"No surprise there. What about the girl?" Reno asked.

"I'll take her." Zangan said from the doorway leading outside, catching Reno and Rude by surprise. A few other of the surviving villagers were behind him.

"She's all yours then." Reno gestured for Rude to hand her over once he was finished administering first aid.

"It'll be alright, Tifa." Zangan said as he carried her outside.

Cloud briefly came to when he heard the familiar voices, twitching when he heard Tifa's name. One man's voice triggered a feeling of being violated, but he passed out again before identifying it.


	5. Chapter 5

" _This is a wonderful spot." Sephiroth remarked, looking around the beautiful scenery as Cloud spread out the picnic blanket._

" _I know." Cloud smiled and opened up the picnic basket. "Did you remember to bring the drinks?" he asked._

" _I've got just the thing." Sephiroth revealed a small cooler he had been hiding and opened it, bringing out a chilled bottle of wine and six wine glasses._

" _Six glasses? I thought this was a private celebration for two." Cloud said._

" _It is a private celebration. Take your clothes off." Sephiroth ordered with a mischievous grin._

" _Yes, lover." Cloud obeyed as always, anticipating the joy of having Sephiroth make love to him outside for once. They were finally going to move in together, and make a formal announcement to let everyone know they were exclusive. But Sephiroth had insisted on a first date beforehand, and Cloud had wanted a picnic. "Hey, what is this?" he asked as five men seemed to appear out of nowhere once he was naked._

" _This is our private celebration." Sephiroth indicated he spoke of himself and the newcomers._

" _But I thought…" Cloud got a sick feeling as he looked at the men. They looked familiar but he couldn't place them, and he quickly cast his eyes down to the grass as they surrounded him. Were they going to…he got his answer as painfully as possible, and one of the men tackled him from behind, forcing him onto his hands and knees. Cloud tried to cry out as he felt the man shove himself into Cloud, but another man forced Cloud take him in his mouth, and it was all Cloud could do to keep from gagging._

" _You're not here to think." Sephiroth told him as he took a sip from his wine glass._

 _Tears streamed down Cloud's face as each of the men took their turns with him. He would gladly submit to the man he still worshipped, but being taken by any other man made him feel so degraded._

 _As if divining Cloud's thoughts, Sephiroth carefully set his wine glass down and came over to his humiliated lover. "I meant it when I said you were_ _ **my**_ _lover. Look at them." Cloud obediently lifted his head and blinked as he saw five identical Sephiroths before him, each with their own wine glass. "I also meant it when I said I'd never leave you. I'm deep inside you now, and always will be." Sephiroth kissed him passionately. "I could almost wish you were a woman so you had another place for me to take you, but I wouldn't change you for anything." Sephiroth lovingly told him, and Cloud's tears dried at that unequivocal reassurance._

"Well, that's weird." the lab tech said as he threw the syringe into the biohazard waste bin. "He's smiling."

"It's because he knows what a lucky test subject he is." Hojo replied condescendingly as he waved for the orderlies to put Cloud back in the containment capsule. "He just got the last pure S cells we have. He is now the closest being on the planet to Sephiroth."

* * *

Cloud barely registered Zack freeing him from the lab. It wasn't only the mako poisoning that had turned him into a vegetable…the constant 'dreams' of Sephiroth dominating him in every way possible and his vague awareness of being turned into a lab rat had destroyed Cloud's sense of self-identity. He was just a tool for someone else to use. When he was conscious during their escape, he heard what Zack was doing and saying, and that was the only thing he had to figure out who he was. His health started to recover as they got closer to Midgar, and found himself sobbing and shuddering while he hid during Zack's final climactic battle against the Shinra army. He could do nothing but crawl to Zack's dying body after it was over, and was relieved when he told Cloud who he was.

"You'll be my living legacy." Zack said before handing the Buster sword to him. "My honor…my dreams…they're yours now."

Cloud took the sword. "I'm your…living legacy." He repeated the words slowly, trying to figure out what they meant, then cried out as Zack died. "Thank you, I won't forget. Good night...Zack." Walking away, he let all the memories he had of Zack replace what Sephiroth and Shinra Laboratories had stolen from him.


	6. Chapter 6

_Two years after Nibelheim_

Tifa headed into the bar, easily recognizing her contact. He hadn't changed, but she had. She adjusted the flower pin she was wearing that marked her as _his_ contact, and smiled at him as she approached the table. "Is this seat taken?" she asked.

Reno perked up, smiling back at her and gesturing for her to sit down. "Feel free." he said. He was so relieved that the latest potential informant with ties to AVALANCHE was so easy on the eyes. He was positive he had seen her before, but he couldn't place her. He was slightly annoyed by that, then shrugged it off, sure that he would eventually remember her.

"So, what's good around here?" Tifa asked him as she positioned herself comfortably on the stool opposite him, crossing her legs carefully with the short tight skirt she had on.

Reno managed to stop himself from saying he hoped she would be. This was business, not a first date after all. "Try one of these." he lifted his beer bottle up and then put it back down on the table.

Before Tifa had a chance to respond, a very large drunken man put his arm around her. "Hey bootyful, ya wanna ditch this skinny bastard and be with a real man instead?"

Reno started to stand up to teach the interloper just what kind of a skinny bastard he was when Tifa urgently gestured for him to sit back down with an odd twinkle in her eyes. "Why, of course." she smiled winningly at him as she slid off the stool and faced him. Her nose wrinkled at the mixed odors of cheap booze and sweat he exuded. "I just have one question for you first."

The man couldn't believe his luck…he had gotten laid in…in…in a very long time! "What's that?" He moved his arm slightly to run his hand down her backside before slapping and pinching her. The next thing he knew, the woman had grabbed the offending hand and twisted his arm behind his back, slamming him down onto the table.

"Do you know where I can find a real man?" she sweetly asked while Reno hurriedly grabbing his beer bottle before it spilled.

"I'm sorry, Miss!" the man apologized.

"Leave us alone." Tifa let him go and he scrambled for the exit while she turned to Reno. "Would you mind if we went for a walk? This place is too crowded."

"Sure thing." Reno just reached into his pocket and threw out whatever gil he had onto the table, trying to keep from smiling too much. So far she seemed like his kind of woman…he appreciated that she could hold her own.

Tifa took a deep breath once they were outside in the fresh air. She was amused that Reno hadn't seem to recognize her. On that horrible day when she had everything stolen from her, she had found his card on the ground, outside the burning rubble of what used to be the bar. It was miraculously undamaged, and she had figured out that he must be connected to Shin-Ra somehow, so Tifa had kept the card. Making her way to Midgar, she kept her hatred alive by the stories of other travelers who had also suffered at Shin-Ra's hands. She had quickly fallen in with AVALANCHE upon her arrival in Midgar, but Tifa kept quiet about Reno's card, waiting until she was older. If the man she had met was still the horny jerk she remembered, there were so many ways that would work to her advantage.

"Where do you wanna go?" Reno asked her.

"There's a little park, that way I think." Tifa pointed and then started walking, Reno staying by her side. "It's so peaceful here." she said as she sat down on the park bench in front of an artificial pond.

"I guess." Reno said as he sat down next to her. He wasn't a park kind of person. "So what's new?" He got down to business.

"Here's my number. Call me and I'll tell you." Tifa handed him a cocktail napkin with a phone number clearly written on it, but no one could see the flash drive hidden in the folds of it, with enough genuine encrypted information on it that the AVALANCHE leaders had given her to convince Shin-Ra that she was a legitimate informant. Tifa kissed Reno's cheek and walked provocatively away from him, knowing he'd be watching.

He was indeed checking her ass while putting the napkin into his pocket. Reno frowned, wishing she wasn't a professional contact. He'd definitely like to try her out.

* * *

 _Four months later_

Reno could tell Tifa was worried as soon as he sat down on the bench next to her. "Everything okay?" he asked.

"They've seen us together too often. They know there was something going on." she whispered.

"What are you going to do?" he questioned Tifa. He'd be pretty disappointed if she wasn't smart enough to have a backup plan for this situation.

"I've already done it. I told them we're planning a secret wedding." Tifa replied calmly.

"What?!" Reno shot up out of the bench and stared at her with his mouth hanging open. Was this bitch crazy?!

"I told them we wanted to marry in secret so your snobby rich family wouldn't find out, and your father would still sign over a quarter stake in the family business over to you in two years when you graduate." she continued.

"And they believed that?!" Reno was incredulous. He'd told so much crap to women over the years, but nothing so far-fetched.

"They believe that I do. And they want me to prove it…they'll arrange everything, but we have to be at the local justice of the peace next Tuesday at 3 p.m., or I'm done for." Tifa told him.

* * *

When Reno reported to Tseng the next morning, he was stunned when his superior howled with laughter. "You will be free Tuesday afternoon." Tseng promised him.

"Sir?" Reno was clearly unhappy.

"This girl is the best informant on AVALANCHE we have right now." Tseng pointed out. "Endangering her over such a trivial thing is bad for our business."

"Trivial?" Reno's voice squeaked.

"Don't worry, it won't be official, I'll take care of that." Tseng dismissed his distraught second-in-command.

* * *

Tifa was very happy on her wedding day, because now she would have her double-edged sword against Shin-Ra. If AVALANCHE couldn't stop them from the outside, she'd do it from the inside as Reno's wife. She knew the ceremony would be fake somehow, he wasn't the marrying kind, but that didn't matter. Reno would still play his part, and she would play him.

The actual 'wedding' took only minutes, with Rude serving as the witness, and he was hard-pressed to keep a straight face. Afterwards, he drove them to a fancy hotel where they were expected to have their wedding night.

"Don't be such a sourpuss." Tifa told a sullen Reno as they entered the regular room. Tifa had explained having the actual bridal suite would not help the secret wedding scam, but a plain room for some funny business wouldn't raise any eyebrows. "We pulled it off, didn't we?"

Reno just grunted in reply. His 'bride' was beautiful in the summer dress she wore, but…he felt like a lamb being led to the slaughter, even though Tseng had constantly reassured him that paperwork would not be filed and he was still a free man.

"Well, almost. You really don't want to have sex with me, do you?" she asked.

"I'd have sex with a fire hydrant if it had a rack like yours." Reno muttered under his breath, but it got him back on track. Why was he acting like he was a special kind of stupid for pouting over the necessity of having sex with a woman he wanted anyway? "You don't mind?" He had never had an unwilling woman, and he never intended to start.

"It beats the alternative if AVALANCHE finds out I lied." she pointed out. "And I've waited long enough."

Reno's eyes bugged out. "You're a virgin?"

"Are you saying you thought I was just another bar floozy?" Tifa's eyes started to narrow.

"Oh, no, I mean…uh…" Reno didn't know what to say next. "Are you even old enough?"

Tifa sighed at him acting like the hesitant bride instead of her. "I was old enough to get married, wasn't I? Of course you can get married at 16 here." She sat down in his lap and pointed to the clock on the nightstand. "But to reassure you, I turned 18 five minutes ago." She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him. "Just think of this as another one night stand, with wedding night role-playing."

Reno smiled as she mentioned role-playing. Maybe she was his kind of woman after all, and he decided he would spend the whole night finding out.


	7. Chapter 7

"We'll have to try that again sometime." Reno gasped, trying to catch his breath.

"I think you're right." Tifa smiled as her 'husband' was his usual cuddling self as they recovered from another extremely successful 'meeting'. The sparks between them on their staged wedding night had never faded, and with her watchers expecting Reno to be coming around to her place now that they were supposedly married, their exchange of information never failed to take place in her bed. Tifa's smiled deepened as she corrected herself. It wasn't always her bed, there was the shower, occasionally her kitchen counter or table, and his unmarked car once or thrice.

"You got anything to eat?" Reno asked her.

Tifa laughed, having been waiting for him to ask her that. "I think I can find something. She got out of bed, and Reno whistled at her backside when she headed towards the kitchen, so she slowed and walked more seductively, enjoying teasing him. She grabbed a few slices of his favorite pizza she kept on hand for him, reheating it in the microwave,

"You're the best, you know that?" Reno had snuck up behind her and put his arms around her.

"And don't you forget it!" Tifa said with mock anger. The microwave beeped and Reno took out his pizza, wolfing it down. Tifa could never understand how he could eat that stuff, she wasn't big on the smell.

"So any news?" he asked her between bites.

"AVALANCHE is planning something big, but I'm not sure what. They usually don't announce it to the team that's going to carry it until it's time." Tifa reminded him, heading back to her room to get dressed. "Don't forget to lock up when you leave." she told Reno when she came back to the kitchen fully clothed. "I've got to get to work now. See you next week!" She kissed his cheek before leaving, not wanting to kiss him on the mouth while he tasted like his pizza.

As she headed to her bar, Tifa struggled to maintain her usual cheerful attitude. It was getting harder and harder for her to lie to Reno, especially when they started behaving like a real happily married couple until the truth invariably reared its ugly head that they were working for organizations who were trying to destroy each other. Hopefully something would happen to make it all work out…hadn't she suffered enough? It was bad enough that Sephiroth had obliterated her hometown, he had also tried to kill her, but only succeeded in killing her chances to ever have her own family.

"Cloud!" Tifa exclaimed as she caught sight of him on her way to the grocery store after work. Reno had an appetite like a chocobo on brownie grass, and she was constantly having to stock up on what he considered essential food groups. At least he always gave her money for groceries at least, so it's not like she was going to bankrupt keeping him fed for his weekly visit.

Cloud stared blankly at Tifa when she called out to him. "What do you want?" he asked coldly, in character with the new persona he had adopted for himself. He had been a SOLDIER First Class, but now he was a mercenary. He answered to no one, and no one could mess with him. Having only allowed himself to remember Nibelheim and the reactor as if he was Zack, all he knew was that he had been strong enough to take out Sephiroth, and that's all that happened. He didn't care to remember much else about his life. The past didn't matter, only the present and his next job did.

Tifa frowned. "Is that any way to greet an old friend?"

"Friend? I don't have any friends." He started remembering her as the guide to the reactor on Mt. Nibel. She had grown up into a very attractive woman, who still seemed to like showing off her body. A voice in his head called her a tease, and he shivered, not knowing where the voice came from. 'I asked you what you wanted."

Tifa's frown deepened. Something was obviously wrong with him, this wasn't the Cloud she remembered. "I want to make you dinner." she replied, wanting to talk to him in private and find out what he'd been through since they last met. The look in his eyes made her feel extremely disturbed, especially since they hadn't been blue before.

Cloud hesitated…he wanted to get away from her as fast as possible for reasons he couldn't explain, but he was hungry, and a free meal was a free meal. Besides, he could disappear afterwards.

"Where is he?" Cloud asked Tifa as he looked around her place while she cooked dinner.

"Where is who?" Tifa asked distractedly as she was finishing up making what she remembered to be one of his favorite meals.

"You have a man here frequently." Cloud said as he came out of the bathroom, wondering why that bothered him a little.

"It's…it's a long story." Tifa was annoyed to find herself blushing over her relationship with Reno. She put the food onto plates, and carried them to her table. "Chow's up!"

Cloud sat down and started eating, giving only monosyllabic answers in between bites to her many questions.

"If you're a mercenary now, I might know of some jobs available for someone with your skills." Tifa cautiously told him, thinking about the upcoming planned attack on Mako Reactor No. 1. Something told her that she needed to keep him close, because he'd need her help as much as she would end up needing his.


	8. Chapter 8

Cloud was more than happy to help AVALANCHE in their fight against Shin-Ra, even if he didn't show it. Something in him wanted Shin-Ra to pay and pay deeply, he just didn't know what for. He had no trouble on his first mission until Barret told him to plant the charges, and he heard a voice warning him about the reactor. He shook it off and finished his job. He got separated from the rest of the team during the getaway, and after the explosion, Cloud met a pretty flower girl who seemed vaguely familiar to him, but he didn't have time for her, he still had to rejoin the team, so he left her and made his way to the train car where everyone else was.

"You forgot the promise." Tifa ran after Cloud when he tried to leave when Barret called a meeting once they were back at the base.

Cloud frowned as Tifa's words triggered a childhood memory. The girl was a damned fool for believing in heroes, he cynically thought as he felt an intense momentary loathing of Tifa for reminding him of his idol worship of Sephiroth and how he wanted to be just like him. "I'm not a hero and I'm not famous." Cloud pointed out and turned to leave when Barret showed up and paid him. That was more like it, and Cloud promised to help out with the assault on Reactor No. 5 for not only an increase in pay, but getting paid in advance as well. Tifa was happy, but Cloud decided against telling her that he wasn't doing it for her, he was doing it for money…well, money and vengeance.

Cloud opened his eyes to find the flower girl standing over him. Moving his head, he realized he was in a church on the floor. Wondering how he got here, he remembered Tifa swearing hatred for Shin-Ra and Sephiroth over her father's dead body, then the President saying he was to have become another Sephiroth, thoroughly disturbing Cloud, there was an explosion and he was falling. Aerith, as the flower girl introduced herself, explained that she had been tending her flowers when Cloud 'dropped in'.

"Does your job include being a bodyguard?" she asked him, spying Reno at the entrance.

Once he agreed to take Aerith home, he approached Reno and the uniform triggered feelings in Cloud that made him accept Aerith's plan to flee.

"Those eyes…they were mako eyes." Reno said as they fled. All the renegade SOLDIERs were gone, weren't they?

Cloud wondered why the Turks would want a simple flower girl, but she wouldn't tell him as they headed back to her home. Upon learning that Tifa was in Don Corneo's mansion, Cloud barely agreed to Aerith's plan for infiltration, making no bones about his disgust over it. Looking in a mirror once she had him dressed up all pretty, he heard the voice again. " _I could almost wish you were a woman_." it said, and Cloud shivered.

Reuniting with Tifa, the three of them cornered Don Corneo in his bedroom, and were horrified when he revealed Heidegger's plans for AVALANCHE and Sector 7. They managed to escape his mansion and made their way to the pillar as fast as they could. At the base, Aerith agreed to Tifa's request to take care of Marlene, and Barret rejoined Tifa and Cloud and they fought their way up the pillar.

Reno and Tifa were shocked to find each other there. Reno recovered more quickly than her from it, and activated the new stun pyramid feature on his weapon, courtesy of the latest materia-enhanced upgrade to it. He couldn't bring himself to fight his 'wife', even if he was personally outraged that she had so obviously lied to him, so he neutralized her first instead. Once he activated the self-destruct bomb for the pillar, he headed back to his chopper, trying to ignore the sick feeling in his stomach that he might never see her again. Business was business, after all.

Barret, Cloud, and Tifa made it safely to the playground outside Sector 7, Tifa feeling so much worse than her compatriots. The honeymoon was over with her and Reno. "I don't understand my own feelings." she admitted when they discussed the tragic event.

"What about you, Cloud?" Barret wanted to know.

Cloud starts to walk off, then pauses. "I want to know more about the Ancients." _The blood of the Ancients flows within me. I am the rightful heir to this planet._ He heard the mysterious voice again, and he was troubled by longing, not only what he heard in the voice, but also stirred within himself by the voice.


	9. Chapter 9

Infiltrating the Shin-Ra building took some ingenuity, but it wasn't that hard. They found the lab where Aerith was being held, and Cloud noticed a large dome-shaped holding tank, and upon reading the name Jenova on it and peering inside, he felt himself start to collapse. When Barret and Tifa questioned him, he didn't tell them that seeing the entity triggered a deep sense of…need?…within him. He shook it off instead to continue with the rescue mission, and they did find Aerith, but they were unable to escape the building with her, until Cloud wakes up after resting in his cell to find the door wide open. Freeing the rest of the team, they realize the building has been attacked in gruesome fashion.

Following the trail of blood, Cloud has his suspicions, but doesn't tell the others until they find the President with a long katana impaling him to his desk. Cloud is struck by a feeling of vindication and a disquieting relief that somehow Sephiroth must be alive after all, as he tells the others who the culprit is.

"So he wants to save the planet? He's a good guy?" Barret asked.

"He's not a good guy!" Cloud snaps, remembering himself.

"I am always by your side." Sephiroth's calm statement in the Temple of the Ancients fills Cloud with a sense of peace, and he feels so close to him as he listens to him talk, until Aerith's words snap him out of it. Cloud was ashamed of himself for the anger he felt at her for stopping whatever just happened to him.

After some discussion, they decide to let Cait Sith obtain the black materia for them, so Sephiroth can not summon Meteor. But once it's in Cloud's hands, Sephiroth appears, and overwhelmed by his presence, Cloud hands it to him, feeling an almost orgasmic rush of pleasure as Sephiroth praises him as a good boy. Aerith intervenes again, and this time Cloud's anger gets the better of him and he attacks her, until Vincent stops him.

Reno was disgusted with himself on all counts, as Elena slept in his arms. He wanted to get over Tifa, and taking advantage of Elena's distress over Tseng's condition after his run-in with Sephiroth seemed like just the ticket. But he just couldn't bring himself to do it when it came down to it, and Elena thought she was wrong about him, and he was just being a great guy by genuinely offering her nothing but a shoulder to cry on.

Cloud awakens the next morning to find Aerith has left, and Barret and Tifa have no idea where she's gone. Cloud tells them she came to him in a dream and explained she's going to the City of the Ancients to stop Sephiroth, and lets them know Sephiroth also knows what she's doing, and he won't let her interfere, leaving out Sephiroth considering himself and Cloud a team. Finding no real support from Barret and Tifa when he confesses his fears, he reluctantly agrees to go after Aerith. He can't let them face Sephiroth on their own, since they really didn't seem to grasp the totality of his power, especially over Cloud. When he realizes Tifa is lying about knowing whoever Zack is, he hides his terrible disappointment in her. Apparently he couldn't trust anybody, least of all himself.

When Cloud approached Aerith as she prayed for help to defeat Sephiroth, he knew what he had to do. He would protect and serve Sephiroth by eliminating all threats to him. Lifting his sword to strike her down, it wasn't Barret and Tifa's voices protesting that stopped him, but another voice inside him, that wanted to protect Aerith from Sephiroth at all costs. Cloud just stood there, torn by all the conflicting voices inside him, as Aerith looked up and smiled at him. He felt Sephiroth's presence before he saw him, gracefully descending from the sky and impaling Aerith in one fluid motion. As he looked into Sephiroth's eyes, Cloud thought he had never seen anything so beautiful.

"I'm deep inside you now, and always will be." Those words reverberated throughout Cloud's mind, and then were gone so suddenly it was painful. In its place was the voice that had wanted to protect Aerith, now screaming in anguish as Cloud cradled her body in his arms, feeling her grow cold under his hands.

Sephiroth taunted Cloud's supposed feelings for Aerith, and a boiling rage now filled Cloud as he fired back at Sephiroth, who merely floated away, with a parting shot at Cloud, letting him know he was just a puppet.


	10. Chapter 10

Cloud looked around at the replica of Nibelheim, knowing it must be a trick by Sephiroth, since he was really on his way deeper into the Crater, with Barret and Tifa. As if Cloud's thoughts summon him, Sephiroth appears, and tries to tell Cloud that his memory of Nibelheim is false. He rejects the claim, telling Sephiroth that he doesn't want to understand. Cloud tries to reassure Tifa, puzzled by how scared she is of what Sephiroth is doing. Cloud's memory can't be false, and that's all there was to it, he told himself, ignoring his own fear of Sephiroth…fear? All that Sephiroth done just made Cloud hate him, didn't it?

Tifa begs Sephiroth to stop his illusion…when he threatens to open her heart to everyone, it's not the truth of what happened during the mission to Nibelheim's reactor that she doesn't want Cloud to know, it's her 'marriage' to Reno. What would he think of her willingly consorting with the enemy?

Listening to Hojo explain everything, Cloud's will to keep fighting what Sephiroth called his true self vanished. He was always meant to serve Sephiroth, that's what he was created for. After taking the black materia from Red XIII, he apologized to everyone and let himself be drawn up to the top of the cavern, as Hojo continued talking about Sephiroth and the experiments.

"All the anger and hatred I bore him made it impossible for me to ever forget him. That, and what he gave me." Cloud said, even though he felt there was a time when Sephiroth only took from him. "Sephiroth? Sephiroth? I'm here. And I brought you the black materia. Show yourself to me. Where are you?" Cloud walked to the edge of the crystalline roots he was standing on. "Sephiroth…so we finally meet again." Cloud heard Red XIII yell at him and started to plummet back down to the ground, but he had to obey Sephiroth, and he levitated back up until he was in front of his…what was the word one of the other clones had called him? Ah, yes, Master! Cloud stares for a moment at the protective cocoon Sephiroth was encased in, before reaching in and placing the black materia in front of his Master. It started to crackle with energy immediately, and Cloud found himself trapped within a maelstrom of power as Meteor and the planet's Weapons were simultaneously unleashed out of the Crater. He felt a protective presence surround him as blackness came.

Cloud opened his eyes to find himself on a gorgeous white sandy beach, sitting in a hammock. He looked around and noticed he was in a secluded cove. There was a small hut only a few feet from him with a barbecue pit behind it. "Hello?" he called out, wondering if he was alone or not. What had happened? A confusing collage of images flashed through his head, but he couldn't understand any of it.

"It's about time you woke up, sleepyhead. The jet lag can't have been _that_ bad." Sephiroth remarked, coming out of the hut totally naked with a cocktail in his hand. Cloud realized with a shock that he was naked too.

"What's going on?" Cloud asked fearfully as Sephiroth got into the hammock with him.

"Isn't it obvious? This is your reward for serving me so well." Sephiroth replied as he started to caress Cloud's tensed up body.

"Master…" Cloud hesitantly said, wanting him to stop, but not sure why.

"Cloud, how many times do I have to tell you? Don't ever call me Master! That's for my loser flunkies, but you're so much better than them. You're my favorite after all. Do you remember what you're supposed to call me?" he asked Cloud.

Cloud relaxed at Sephiroth's unstinted approval of him, and he let himself enjoy the fondling as he searched his confused memory. "Lover?" Cloud couldn't figure out why that word made him shudder.

"Yes, that's what you alone get to call me." Sephiroth kissed him.

Cloud closed his eyes and was filled with serenity as Sephiroth made love to him in the hammock, in such a beautiful location, with the only sounds being the waves gently lapping the shore with an occasional bird cry mixing in with the moans they both made. Could anything be better than this? Cloud thought, then realized Sephiroth had suddenly stopped. Opening his eyes, he felt himself being choked with fear as the scene started to change.

"Drat that girl! Remember I'm always with you!" Sephiroth told Cloud as he started to fade.

"Don't abandon me!" Cloud screamed out, feeling chilled to the bone. Everything went black to be replaced with a vision of Nibelheim and Tifa was there, and Cloud was stunned to realize he was looking at her from three different sets of eyes.

Cloud felt sick acting like he was glad to have his memory restored, and that he was okay now. Thankfully Tifa had never known what Sephiroth had done to him that first night in Nibelheim. At least he had one more reason to take out Sephiroth once and for all, so no one could ever know.

Tifa's first stop when they reentered the Weapon-besieged Midgar was a private excursion. She had gotten Reno's real address from Cait Sith, and needed to make sure that he was okay. She didn't want to leave that situation unresolved, in case she didn't survive their final confrontation with Sephiroth. Tifa was surprised at the poshness of the building he lived in. Cait Sith had told her it was an exclusive condominium complex that Shin-Ra had built. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on door no. 79.

"Tifa!" Reno exclaimed when he opened the door in just his boxers, glad to see her, but at the same time thinking her timing was awful. "What do you want?" he asked coolly.

"I had to make sure you were oka…" Tifa's voice trailed off as she caught sight of that blonde Turk she had seen in Wutai coming out of what must be his bedroom, in just a bathrobe and toweling her wet hair.

"Thanks, Reno." Elena said. "I knew you wouldn't let me…what's she doing here?" she blurted out as she saw Tifa.

"I'm wondering the same thing myself." Tifa frowned angrily. "I just wanted to see you again before we took the fight back to Sephiroth." she snapped at Reno. "But don't let me spoil your good time!" Tifa ran away down the emergency stairs.

Reno wanted to chase after he, but maybe it was better this way, and she'd move on so he could. If she survived Sephiroth that was…Reno didn't want to think about that.

"Why was she here?" Elena demanded to know. She was staying at his place while hers was being fumigated. And maybe she could finally get him into bed. His lack of interest in her had ignited hers in him. She felt a bit insulted that Mr. Playboy never made a move on her. Elena might not be as gorgeous as some of his other women, but she knew she wasn't unattractive.

"That _was_ my wife." Reno explained.

"You're _married_?!" Rage washed over Elena. "Of all the…" she punched Reno in the stomach and stormed out. "Jerk!" she muttered under her breath as the elevator opened, too made to care if she was only wearing a bathrobe. She'd take a taxi to a hotel and stay there.

Reno sat down on his couch, clutching his stomach. He'd have a bruise there for sure, he thought as he stared at his blank TV screen. At least Elena was gone…he was getting fed up with her acting like he was her gay best friend…he liked women! One woman, he automatically amended, but she was gone now. If…Reno shuddered at the thought of being a widow, even if it was fake. That was one reason he had no interest in marriage, in his line of work 'Til death do us part' was pretty much a guarantee, usually far sooner than expected. But Tifa…Reno was unsure what to do for the first time in his life.

Sephiroth's stunned look as Cloud defeated the last vestige of him made it impossible for Cloud to be happy that the world had been saved. He had realized with his renewed memory that the one thing Sephiroth had never done was lie to him. The only person that he could trust was the one he had to destroy.

"I say we celebrate!" Tifa said as Cid's airship took them away from the Crater.

"You're right." he told her, pulling her into one of the cabins. If Tifa was so determined to help him, she could help him forget what he had just done, and make him believe that he was okay now.


	11. Chapter 11

_Six months after Meteorfall_

Tifa was relieved when Cloud demanded separate twin beds for the bedroom they were going to share in the apartment above her new bar where they were now going to live. She didn't want to be in the same bed with him. Their 'celebration' after defeating Sephiroth had made her almost afraid of Cloud. Everything had been going well until he realized there was nothing virginal about her anymore. Tifa had been stunned by his fury at her for not waiting for him, and when he finally calmed down, she was grateful he had never wanted to touch her again. She had thought he had been healed of his past, but obviously there was something more that he wouldn't tell her. And she didn't have much of an opportunity to really talk with him lately, not since he started his own delivery business, using his specially customized motorcycle Fenrir for his deliveries. He was gone frequently, and wasn't good about telling her when he'd be home. And now that Marlene was living with him, she didn't want to discuss potentially disturbing problems in front of her.

 _One year after Meteorfall_

Cloud walked into the kitchen. "This Geostigma business is starting to get really serious. Hope the brains can figure out a cure soon." he told Tifa as he watched her cook dinner.

"They will. They better." Tifa replied. "Did Marlene enjoy the park?" Cloud nodded. "Dinner will be ready in about ten minutes, so you two have time to wash up first." she said.

As the three of them sat down to eat, Cloud mostly ignored Tifa and focused on Marlene. The little girl's honest innocence was extremely soothing to him. Everyone else around him seemed so jaded and occasionally deceitful. He had sworn many times he wouldn't let anything spoil her.

Cloud was horrified to find the first Geostigma lesion on his hand two months later. He had thought himself immune to it, since he had spent years as a lab rat that made him so different from everyone else. Apparently his alterations weren't enough…and there was still no hope for a cure. He pretended that he was okay until the day he came home early enough to get the mail, and found a letter from Reeve Tuesti addressed to Tifa. Thinking it was a mistake, since Reeve always contacted Cloud, he opened the letter. Scanning the contents, he was overcome by an overwhelming sense of betrayal. Cloud crumpled the letter into a ball and threw it in the trash, then packed up his sparse belongings and left Tifa for good.

Tifa came home after work, thinking nothing of Cloud not being there, until she found the envelope on the table. Surprised to find it open and empty, she looked around for the letter, finally finding it in the trash. Straightening it out, she casually skimmed it until she read the 'certificate never revoked' line, and sat down in the nearest chair with a thud. Tifa stared out the window in a daze…her marriage to Reno had been real after all? But that meant…"Oh, Cloud, I'm so sorry." Tifa realized he must have been the one who opened the envelope. She had never meant for him to find out like this. She had genuinely thought it was a sham marriage from the start, so saw no point in telling Cloud, especially since she and Reno had ended when Cloud came back into her life. And she definitely didn't want Cloud to know it was Reno who gave her such a thorough sexual education. He had been furious enough with her over it, even with everything they'd been through together. How would he react to Reno? In the rare occasions when the Turks came up in conversations between them, Reno was the only one Cloud seemed to hold a grudge against. She'd better pay her husband another visit and warn him.

Reno smiled as Elena dug her nails into his back. She had eventually forgiven him about Tifa once Rude had confirmed the marriage was fake and mission-related. Once he found out Tifa was living with Cloud, he was tempted to go back to his womanizing ways, but Tifa had ruined that for him, and it just didn't appeal to him anymore. He wanted some consistency in his relationships now, not just cheap thrills. He and Elena had been seeing each other for the past four months, and he kept telling himself he was as happy as he could be. He heard the urgent knocking on the front door, but he waited until he and Elena were both satisfied before getting up to answer the door.

"Tifa? You have really bad timing, you know that?" Reno said as he opened the door.

"Who is she?" Tifa glanced at Reno's naked body, knowing him well enough to know he just had sex.

"Um…what?" Reno would have been mad if he had known he was blushing. "What business is that of yours anyway?"

"It's my business because I'm your wife." Tifa handed him the letter as she ducked under his arm and entered his condo. "And I think you might be in trouble."

Cloud took up residence in the ruins of the church where Aerith's flower garden still bloomed. He tried to feel at peace there, but all he could do was think of how all of his problems were because of Reno. He had taken everything from Cloud…he had let Sephiroth rape him, which made Cloud so messed up Sephiroth could control him and got Aerith killed and let Sephiroth summon Meteor. Zack had passed on his hopes and dreams onto Cloud, expecting him to follow in his footsteps, but he hadn't been able to protect Zack's love for him. Cloud had realized that he himself didn't really care for Aerith, it was Zack's memories affecting him. But her death still haunted him for Zack's sake. And Tifa…Reno had taken her away too…and if they were married, they could adopt Marlene and her innocence would vanish by being exposed to his lifestyle. Now Cloud was dying from Geostigma with no one left to care for him. Left alone since no one knew where he was, Cloud just nursed his hatred of Reno, day in and day out, until he thought of the perfect way to make Reno pay for his crimes.


	12. Chapter 12

Cloud spent the next two weeks familiarizing himself with Reno's routine. He was surprised that the man wasn't picking up women in bars anymore…was he serious about his marriage to Tifa? Cloud had felt a little guilty at first over his plans for Reno, since she would be hurt, but then he reminded himself that Reno had stolen her from him, and she was no longer any concern of his. Sephiroth had been right, she was just another of those slutty teases Reno loved so much. What he was going to do to Reno, he was doing for Marlene's sake as much as for himself. Tifa and Reno could never adopt Marlene once Cloud had broken him like he had done to Cloud. It would be his wedding present to the happy couple. Just another week or two, and everything would be in place…anyone seeing the smile that spread over his face would know that Cloud was hanging on by a thread.

Reno went to Aerith's church to see if reports of Cloud's presence there were true. He hadn't told Tifa because she was afraid Cloud was going to hurt him. Reno knew it was possible, after all, the man had bested Sephiroth multiple times. And Reno wasn't into fighting over women, there were too many available ones. But for Tifa…he was willing to let Cloud get in a 'lucky' punch once or twice and call it good for his wife's sake. It wasn't new for him, not with Elena being totally unforgiving at finding out that she really was an unwitting homewrecker, and Tifa herself had needed time to adjust to their relationship was real, but when she had…Reno smiled at the memory. They were having dinner at his place, and when he had kissed her, she had responded so eagerly it surprised him. She had told him that she and Cloud were not lovers, but he hadn't believed it until then…Tifa had left him positively drained that night, and he had fallen into an exhausted sleep as a happily married man. "Cloud, are you here?" Reno called out.

"You weren't supposed to be here yet. But I shouldn't be surprised, you just like to spoil things for me, don't you?" Cloud had easily snuck up behind the distracted Turk, and poked Reno's back with the tip of the Buster sword. "Now turn around and face me like the man you're not!" Cloud demanded of him.

As Reno complied, he was disgusted at his lapse and letting someone get the drop on him. Looking down into Cloud's eyes, Reno got his first hint that maybe Tifa was right to be worried about her childhood friend. "I don't want to fight you." he told Cloud in a conciliatory tone. "It's not going to change anything, and…"

"I've got nothing left to lose. I'm dying, you stupid ass!" Cloud said as his hand started trembling…his anger increased as well as his fear. He couldn't have a Geostigma fit now! Reno needed pay for his failure…reaching into the stunned man's pocket, he was somewhat disgusted to find the tube of lubrication still there, just like it had been that horrible night that began it all…"It really doesn't matter what you want." A frightening smile spread over Cloud's face. "Only one of us is leaving here whole."

"Is Cloud ever coming back home?" Marlene asked Tifa hopefully as they ate lunch.

"I don't know." Tifa sighed. "That's up to him now. Would you like to go visit the flower garden?" Tifa knew that Aerith's church was one of Marlene's favorite places to go.

"Yes, please!" Marlene clapped her hands together excitedly.

"It's all your fault!" Cloud kept shouting as he hit Reno again and again, his buried rage having finally erupted in violent fashion. When he realized Reno was about to pass out, he dragged the Turk over to one of the pews and sat him down almost gently. "Did you know it was me that night under Sephiroth's coat?"

"What are you talking about?" Reno struggled to remain consciousness…he had never taken a beating like this before.

"Remember Nibelheim? I was the one Sephiroth offered to you that night!" Cloud exclaimed angrily.

"No!" Reno was disgusted by Cloud's revelation.

"Yes! And you let him rape me!" Cloud barely stopped himself from hitting Reno again, as he finally admitted out loud what happened to him that night. "Now you're going to know what it feels like to lose everything!" Cloud forced Reno onto all fours on the pew and pulled his pants down before kneeling behind him as he undid his own pants and lubed up.

Tifa and Marlene saw Fenrir parked outside the church, and Marlene got excited at seeing Cloud again, and she pulled her hand out of Tifa's grasp and ran inside, calling out his name.

Cloud had sated his anger, and refastened his pants as he thought of how Reno had cried out like a little bitch as Cloud took out his vengeance over and over again on the man, who was now unconscious on the pew. When Sephiroth forced himself on Cloud, he had only cried out the once. So much for the illustrious Turks…suddenly he heard his name being called and turned to see Marlene running happily towards him. Horror washed over Cloud…Marlene wasn't supposed to be here…she couldn't see Reno. "Get away from me!" he snapped at her.

Marlene froze, having never heard him mad at her before. "Cloud? Are you okay?"

Tifa walked in right behind her, instantly realizing an intense fight had taken place. She put her hands protectively on Marlene's shoulders, preventing her from going further. "Cloud…what's going on?" she asked worriedly, feeling a stab of fear as she looked at him. That wasn't the Cloud she knew.

"You're not supposed to be here! It's all his fault!" Cloud yelled before running out the door and Tifa heard him speed away on Fenrir.

"Stay right there." Tifa ordered Marlene, and cautiously approached the pew he had been standing. A terrified gasp escaped her lips as she saw Reno lying there. She quickly pulled his pants back up so Marlene wouldn't see, and looked for some kind of blanket or first aid kit. She found both from where Cloud must have had his 'bedroom'. "You can go play with the flowers now." she told Marlene. Tifa fought back tears as she tended to her husband's broken body, not wanting to get them into his wounds. "Aerith, if you can still hear me, please save Cloud!" she prayed.

Cloud had no real destination in mind, he just had to get far away. He didn't care how fast he was going…the thought of Marlene seeing what he had done made him beyond nauseous. He exited the city out into the wilderness, still going at top speeds. As he was making a dangerous turn, the Geostigma made his hand started trembling again, and he lost control of Fenrir. Suddenly he felt himself falling through the air as he went over the cliff and then his body hit the rocks below, Fenrir landing nearby.

"Please let me die." Cloud pleaded as he looked up at the sky, then closed his eyes, not wanting to ever wake up again.


	13. Chapter 13

"Wake up, Cloud!" A woman's voice insisted. "You've got to get up now."

Reluctantly opening his eyes, he found himself in a strange bedroom. The woman looking at him seemed familiar, even though he was sure they had never met.

"My name is Ifalna." she told him. "You know my daughter, Aerith. She'll be along shortly. It's at her request you are here."

Cloud got out of the bed as Ifalna left, wondering what happened. He remembered crashing Fenrir, and before that…he had betrayed Marlene and Tifa! How could he?! His self-loathing was interrupted by Aerith's arrival.

"I'm glad you decided to join us." she said as she hugged him.

"What's going on?" Cloud wanted to know.

"Tifa asked me to help you. Even if she hadn't, I would have stepped in." Aerith replied.

"Why?" Cloud asked brokenly. "Don't you know what I've done?!"

"Yes." she replied sadly. "I know it all. Follow me." Aerith walked out the doorway.

Cloud hesitated…how could she stand to look at him if she really knew? But he followed her to find out what was going on. He walked after her through a cozy house, and Aerith led him into the kitchen, where Ifalna was preparing a meal.

"I'll be back in a little while, Mom." Aerith told her as she opened the door to the outside.

"Be careful." Ifalna warned her, flashing a disapproving look at Cloud.

"Why doesn't your mother seem to want me here?" Cloud asked.

"Having outsiders here is problematic at best." Aerith reluctantly answered.

"Where is here?" Cloud wondered.

"It's too complicated for you to understand. Just think of it as the Promised Land of legend." Aerith offered as an explanation.

They walked through a quaint village, and the other Cetra they passed also didn't seem that happy with Cloud's presence. Aerith walked to the edge of the village, where there was a well-worn path into the woods surrounding the village. At the end of the path was a shallow pond. Other Cetra were there, and large bubbles were floating out of the water to them, and they were holding them and looking at them very carefully.

"This is our scrying pool. It's how we know what's happening in the physical realm of the planet. I'm only half-Cetra, so I'm not that good at it like the others, but…" Aerith held her hand out towards the pool, and a bubble floated up and landed in her palm without breaking. "This is you and Sephiroth." she told Cloud, holding it in front of his face so he could see fuzzy various scenes, each with two people in it.

"Who are those other people, and why are we in the same bubble?" Cloud blurted out, feeling himself start to panic and he took an involuntary step backwards from Aerith. The other Cetra frowned at his outburst.

"Because your destinies are so closely linked, in all your lifetimes." Aerith gently explained.

"Lifetimes?" Cloud couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You mean I'll never be free of him? Do you know what he did to me?!" He felt so hopeless at the thought of being chained to his rapist for all eternity.

"I told you Cloud, I know all about it." She looked at him without the pity he expected, just understanding, as she held her hand back over the pond, and the bubble floated back down into it. "And you let it eat at you for so long, until you took it out on everyone **but** Sephiroth. You'll never be healed until you confront him with the truth."

"Then I'm done for. I killed him, remember? I had to." Cloud pointed out dejectedly.

"If you could face him again, would you want to?" she questioned him.

Cloud stared at her. "I…I don't know. I don't want to go on like this. But even if I could confront him, it hasn't changed what I've done. It's too late."

"That's where I come in. The Cetra aren't happy with you being here, but they haven't forgotten the threat Jenova poses. Just remember, you have to be honest with yourself and him. Don't be afraid of the truth." Aerith took his head in her hands and kissed him benevolently on his forehead.

Cloud felt dizzy and closed his eyes as he felt himself falling. He startled as he landed somewhere soft and he opened his eyes to find himself in the Nibelheim inn room with Zack.

"Have you talked to Tifa yet?" Zack asked him.


	14. Happy Valentine's Day

Cloud sat on his hotel bed in shock. Aerith had given him a second chance! But why here? Sephiroth had raped him the night before, why didn't she send him back further so it would never happen? Was she serious about him confronting Sephiroth? Doing it to save the world in a life or death battle was one thing, but this…Cloud shivered. How would he know if he 'won' after confronting Sephiroth with his crime?

"Well, have you talked to Tifa yet?" Zack repeated his question.

"Oh…uh…no." Cloud replied. "How…how do you talk to someone who's hurt you without letting them hurt you again?"

Zack stared at Cloud before sitting down on his own bed. "It's seriously complicated between you two, isn't it?"

"Oh, I wasn't talking about Tifa, I just…oh, never mind. I'm gonna go for a walk." Cloud said and hurried outside. Once he was on the main street of Nibelheim, he took a deep breath and looked up towards the reactor. Jenova was there, and she needed to be destroyed, but Sephiroth was going mad, and that was the more immediate threat. Jenova wasn't going anywhere yet. Cloud didn't look forward to facing Sephiroth, but he couldn't stand what he had become, and Aerith had said he would be healed and finally free once he did. He wondered why she had been so adamant about him being honest with himself and Sephiroth during the confrontation. What was there to lie about anymore? Sephiroth raped him, that's all that was bothering him, wasn't it? He took a step towards the mansion, then looked up at the reactor again. If he destroyed Jenova first, she could never be used for more experiments, and Sephiroth couldn't use her either, if Cloud failed when he faced him down.

Sephiroth had left the mansion basement, feeling so sick that he had to get some fresh air before he burst. The records of the experiments stored in the basement made him feel so…he didn't even know if there was a word for it. Everything he had believed in was nothing but a lie apparently. He was surprised to see that blond infantryman he had found so enjoyable head out on the trail leading up to the reactor, and Sephiroth started following at a safe distance, needing a distraction, and curious as to what he was doing.

Cloud felt a bit naked going anywhere without the Buster sword, but it wasn't his anymore, and he just had to be careful, using the night vision feature of his helmet. He had a couple close calls, but he made it safely to the reactor. Pausing in front of the sealed door leading to the Jenova chamber, trying to figure out how to open it when he heard a noise behind him, and spun around to find himself face to face with Sephiroth.

"You're not supposed to be here!" Cloud blurted out as he backed up til he hit the door.

"I could say the same thing about you." Sephiroth coolly replied. "What are you doing here?"

"Saving the world from monsters." Cloud answered after a moment's hesitation.

Sephiroth started laughing almost maniacally. "We're all monsters now, thanks to Shin-Ra. Haven't you been paying attention?"

"I became a monster when you raped me!" Cloud snapped back, clenching his hands into fists.

"Raped? You didn't have any problem begging for it, did you?" Sephiroth was surprised to find himself on the defensive over their night together.

"I was sixteen years old, you bastard!" Cloud blindly struck out at Sephiroth, who easily avoided it, and pinned him to the door, holding him up by his throat.

" **Was** sixteen?" Sephiroth was alert to Cloud's choice of words and demanded answers. "Who are you?"

"I'm the person that's going to stop you! I won't let you do to anyone else what you did to me!" Cloud raged on, unable to stop now that he had started. "For years I looked up to you, wanting to be just like you. And when I finally met you, I find out the great Sephiroth is a lie…he's just a manipulative rapist!" More buried feelings floated up to the surface inside Cloud, like bubbles at the Cetra's scrying pool. "How could you do that to me? You didn't need to force me, I would have done anything for you! I lo…" Cloud froze in shock as Sephiroth let him go, and he fell to the floor, sobbing and shuddering. How could he have loved Sephiroth? Was that why Aerith felt he wasn't being honest with himself about why being raped by Sephiroth had scarred him so badly?

Sephiroth stared at Cloud's huddled body on the floor as the young man let go of the last five years in a cathartic released that Sephiroth found extremely disturbing, especially when he heard Cloud keep mumbling about love in conjunction with his name. Looking up at the Jenova nameplate over the door, he decided to stay as far away from the young infantryman as possible, something about him was too dangerous for Sephiroth to be near him. "Do what you will!" he spat before disappearing into the night.

As Cloud recovered from his release, he was so grateful to Aerith. He did feel lighter, even if he was a bit uncomfortable after realizing the truth about his feelings for Sephiroth. He tried to stand up, using the sealed door to brace himself against, but it was somehow open, and he fell into the chamber. Picking himself up, he approached the containment capsule containing Jenova, feeling a total repulsion of everything she represented. He was trying to figure out how to destroy her when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Can't leave a job unfinished, can you?" Zack asked. "Keep it up, and you'll be First Class in no time."

"Jenova must be destroyed. She's what started it all." Cloud fervently stated.

"Are you serious?" Zack stared at him. "She makes my skin crawl, but we really should report to…"

"I'm going to do it with or without your help. I don't want you to get in trouble, so you can feel free to leave." Cloud replied.

"Whoa, buddy, I'm helping, I just wanted to make sure you would. Let's do this!" Zack told him.

Cloud didn't tell Zack of his next planned move as they returned to Midgar, only telling his friend that he was quitting SOLDIER, since he wanted nothing more to do with Shin-Ra. He was going to be a mercenary, and told Zack to keep in touch with him if he ever needed help. Cloud's next move was destroying the research lab to stop Hojo. He snuck in after hours one night, planting several devices that would cause a blackout in the lab so the research specimens could escape while Cloud would wipe out all the computer hard drives, so they would have no records of any of their research. He had just started on the computers when Hojo surprised him. He pointed his gun at Cloud, who closed his eyes, expecting to hear the gun go off and kill him any moment, but instead he heard a sickening groan. Opening his eyes, he saw a stunned Hojo fall to the ground as a long blade so quickly that Cloud never saw the wielder, even though he knew who it was, and he smiled.

Cloud hadn't seen Sephiroth for over six months, since their confrontation at the Mt. Nibel reactor, but he had frequently thought about him, and he had come to terms with his feelings for the silver-haired warrior. It wasn't just that he still loved him despite everything that allowed him to forgive the man, but he realized that Aerith was right, he and Sephiroth were so linked that forgiving him was the same as Cloud forgiving himself. Cloud also accepted that he relied on him as his guiding star to know what he had to do. If he was a hero, Cloud would emulate him. If Sephiroth was a villain, Cloud would fight him…wherever Sephiroth led, Cloud would always end up following him.

After Nibelheim, he had constantly felt himself being watched, and during some of his mercenary jobs, he had been aware that he had a guardian angel taking care of any unexpected problems that arose. So Cloud was unsurprised to wake up in the middle of the night two weeks after his assault on the research lab, sensing another presence in his bedroom.

"You owe me." Sephiroth said as he got into bed with Cloud, and he was surprised that Cloud didn't object or resist at all. He had been furious with himself that he hadn't been able to stay away from the younger man, justifying it by the fact that he had promised Cloud he would never leave him, and Sephiroth could not go back on his word. He had looked after him, unsure why he wanted to give Cloud a reason to trust him again.

Cloud fell into a relaxed sleep after Sephiroth had left him, and he had a dream of being back in the Cetra village with Aerith and Ifalna, but he didn't understand any of it.

"Thank you for saving my daughter." Ifalna's spirit said, putting her hand on Cloud's head as he slept peacefully, removing his memories of the future timeline he had left behind.

 _Three years after Nibelheim_

Cloud finished adjusting Zack's bowtie. "There you go. Are you nervous yet? Today's the big day after all."

"I would be if you hadn't taken that picture at the bachelor party!" Zack chided his best man. "If Aerith ever sees that, we'll have to adopt our family."

"I could always tell her the truth." Cloud teased. "That her noble husband is always there for a damsel in distress. Now, let's get you two married!"

The ceremony was very well attended, since when the 'commoners' invited found out that the illustrious Turks and some of the upper echelon of Shin-Ra would be attending, they didn't want to miss out at hobnobbing with them. It turned into quite a social affair, which Zack and Aerith weren't too happy with, but as long as they had a nice wedding, they were willing to deal with it. Aerith didn't have any real girlfriends though, so Cloud introduced her to Tifa, and the two hit it off, so Tifa was the Maid of Honor, and at Zack's suggestion, Cissnei along with Elena and her sister were bridesmaids. Tseng, Reno, and Rude were the groomsmen. Aerith wore a traditional dark green Cetra wedding dress, but those who didn't know her heritage thought she was just following some new fashion trend.

Reno wasn't paying attention to the ceremony as much as he was just staring at Tifa. He had a vague recollection of her from somewhere, and he was eager for the reception so he could not only figure out who she was, but find out how available she was.

Cloud was walking to the park where the reception was being held when he was suddenly grabbed from behind. "I thought you didn't like weddings." he said.

"I don't." Sephiroth said as he led Cloud to a secluded area of the park. "It's something else that interests me."

Cloud started unfastening his pants as Sephiroth backed him up against a tree, smiling like a Chesire cat at his lover finally taking him in public, so to speak. Sephiroth had been so resistant to any suggestion that they have any kind of official relationship. Cloud just left his bedroom window unlocked for Sephiroth to come and go as he pleased. He wanted Sephiroth to admit he loved Cloud as well, but he understood that it would take time. After all, Sephiroth was still dealing with his issues over his origins. Cloud had realized that it was when he had a hard time with it that he sought Cloud out the most, and he was touched that Sephiroth did rely on him as a calming influence. Love was patient, Cloud knew, and he was willing to wait for however long it took for Sephiroth to come around.

"You're still the best I've ever had." Sephiroth said as he entered Cloud, pleased that his lover was eagerly begging him for more in between moans. He would never admit it, but Cloud was so intrinsically important to him that it frightened him sometimes. So he tried to keep his visits few and far between, even though it was getting harder. Being with Cloud always felt so right…

"You really don't remember me, do you?" Tifa was extremely amused by Reno's not-so-subtle attempts to find out who she was at the reception. This might turn out to be an enjoyable party after all. "Oh, look, Aerith is about to toss the bouquet, excuse me."

Reno followed Tifa, wanting to get her to admit who she was. When Aerith threw her bouquet, his training kicked in and he automatically reached out and grabbed the thrown object. When he realized what he had just done, Tifa started laughing.

"Well, how does it feel to have your face be the same color as the flowers?" Tifa couldn't resist needling him.

"Take them!" Reno thrust the bouquet at her, not wanting any part of it.

"If I take them from you now, we have to get married." Tifa teased him.

When Cloud came home from Reno and Tifa's wedding six months later, he found a small box on his bed. Opening it, he found a plain wedding ring with a note that simply said _Now everyone will know you're mine._ A soft smile spread over Cloud's face, knowing that this was Sephiroth's way of saying "I love you."


End file.
